Hamlet: On ICE!
by Nuwanda
Summary: Horatio can't figure skate to save his life. Luckily for him, Hamlet is more than willing to offer a shoulder to lean on. Two boys with cold fingers and stuffy noses....totally romantic, right? It will be if Hamlet gets his way.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Yeah, so another one! I bet you're all excited! And if not, you should be. I haven't posted ANYTHING in months, and this has been in the works for about ¾ of a year now. It's not done, so you'll still have to be patient with me, but there's almost 50 pages written, so it should come pretty steadily for a while.

**NOTES:** Once again, this is AU and slash, so Hamlet and Horatio are now in modern times, Hamlet's dad is president and is still alive, and the boys are gay and in love. They just don't know it yet. :D

**DEDICATIONS:** This one goes to Jess and Meg. Because last year, when we worked on our Hamlet project together, Jess gave me the idea to write Hamlet and Horatio on roller skates, which I'm sure we all remember, and that turned out well. So I started thinking on how I could corrupt this, my favorite Shakespeare, even more, and of course that led me to this idea. I told them my ideas and they contributed and the three of us tossed ideas around at a lunch table in the cafeteria, and lo and behold! The story was born. Also to my sister, for coming up with the title.  
**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any thing of Shakespeare's, not Hamlet, not Horatio, nothing. I also do not own the title...that belongs to Meg-ling, my older sister.

**CLAIMER:** I do in fact own Thomas, who you will meet in this ficlet. Jess and I are very excited about the introduction of the Thomas, who you will see very often in fics to follow. He is a secret service agent whose sole job is guarding/watching over Hamlet and Horatio. So yeah, be prepared for the awesomeness that is Thomas. I guess I should give just a wee bit of background info. Hamlet comes from a v. rich family, so he's always had a bodyguard. That bodyguard used to be Thomas, and now he works for the government and has to watch Hamlet again. So he and Hamlet and Horatio go waaaaaay back and he's none too crazy about it. That's pretty much all you need to know in that regard.

I also own Horatio's coat and hat, and pretty much all their skating gear for that matter, and the car they're in. And Thomas. But that's it for this chapter.

_**FICLET NOW!**_

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****

"Come on Horatio, hurry up! We have to beat the crowd!"

"I'm not going."

"Oh yes you are."

"No I'm not."

Laughter. "Oh yes you fucking are!"

"Hamlet, no!"

"Horatio, come down here!"

Standing at the top of the stairs, Horatio shook his head stubbornly. "No, no, no. I absolutely refuse."

"No you don't, you never say no to me."

"Well I am now. Figure skating is where I draw the line."  
"Horatio," Hamlet sighed. "You promised that you'd come!"

"After much prodding and annoyance on your part."

"So what? You still said you'd come. Now get down here."

Horatio stared at Hamlet as though considering the idea, then shook his head firmly. "Nope," he said. "Not doing it."

Hamlet growled. "Horatio, if you don't come down here and put on some winter gear then I'm going to bring you down here by force and DRESS YOU!"

Horatio's eyes widened in something akin to fear; he immediately sat down, arms wrapping tightly about the stair railing. "You can't make me," he said.

"Oh, CAN'T I?" Hamlet stomped up the stairs, much to Horatio's growing terror, and, leaning over, began fiercely tickling Horatio, who began wriggling something awful.

"HAMLET! NO! I don't….STOP IT!" Horatio was trying to hold onto the stair railing and make Hamlet stop at the same time, but it wasn't working well. At that moment, a tour guide entered, leading a group of people through the white house and unfortunately stumbling upon the two boys. There was a long moment's silence as everyone paused. Then the woman seemed to gain control of herself.

"And on your immediate left you have the president's son, Hamlet, who seems to be…..severely molesting another boy."

Hamlet grinned, pleasantly surprised by the added attention, and waved enthusiastically. Horatio was bright red and looked as though he wanted to sink into the floor as everyone laughed, some of the people waving back.

"….right," the tour guide said. "Moving on…" and she lead the people out of the room, leaving the two boys alone again. Hamlet immediately set to tickling Horatio again.

"HAMLET! STOP!" Finally, against his will, Horatio let go of the railing and reached to grab Hamlet's hands and force him to stop. However, he made the somewhat catastrophic mistake of kicking Hamlet at the same moment. His feet connected with Hamlet's stomach, knocking the wind out of the brunette and also propelling him backwards. If Horatio hadn't been holding Hamlet's hands at that point, Hamlet would have taken the fall alone. Instead, he dragged Horatio down with him, the two of them tumbling down the stairs in a ball of curse words and flailing fists. Finally, they landed in a tangled heap at the bottom of the stairs, hitting the polished wood floor hard.

"……ow," Hamlet said weakly several moments later.

"Your fault," Horatio accused him breathlessly.

"_My_ fault?" Hamlet repeated as though shocked by the accusation (which he really wasn't at all). "How is it _my_ fault?"

"You tickled me!"

"Yeah, and there would have been no need to do that if you weren't being such a pansy!"

"I AM NOT A PANSY!"

"Then put on the fucking winter gear and let's get going!"

Horatio sighed. "Fine. I'll come, I'll come.

Hamlet brightened considerably. "YAY!"

Horatio shook his head. "MAN are you gay!"

Hamlet winked. "You know it, hot stuff."

Horatio let out another long suffering sigh. "What do I have to wear?"

Hamlet took a step back, hand beneath his chin as he gave Horatio a once over to determine how much extra clothing the blonde had to put on. Horatio felt himself blushing as Hamlet's eyes traced over his body, taking in the worn t-shirt and the black pants, the untied snowboots. "Well?" he demanded.

"Okay," Hamlet began, sounding as though he had just solved an extremely difficult mathematical problem, "I know what we're doing now. First, you have to get rid of this." Stepping forward, he grabbed the bottom of Horatio's t-shirt and began tugging it up.

"Hey, HEY!" Horatio cried, swatting at Hamlet's hands. "I thought we were putting stuff ON, not taking it OFF!"

"Yeah, well the coat is big, you need to take the shirt off for it to fit just right…..it's all about _layering_, Horatio, darling!"

Horatio stared at Hamlet, then shook his head. "I just_ know_ you're just using this as an excuse to strip me."

"But of course!" Hamlet said. "Now lift your arms."

Sighing, Horatio complied and Hamlet tugged the shirt up. "You know, I am perfectly capable of undressing myself," he said, voice muffled by the shirt.

"Are you?" Hamlet asked. "Then you should do it more often. People like you should be naked all the time." He pulled the shirt off, dropping it to the floor. Clad in just a white wife-beater (which Hamlet noted clung to the blonde's chest quite nicely), Horatio stared at him, one eyebrow arched.

"Is that so?"

"Oh yes," Hamlet grinned. "Nudity, 24/7."

"I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you, you kinky fuck."

"Of course!" Hamlet said, laughing. "All I want in life is your sexy body, Horatio, haven't you figured that out yet?"

"Oh yes, my scrawny, stark white body," Horatio said. "So sexy, I know."

Hamlet couldn't help but laugh at that. It was true. Horatio was the palest person he knew, and one of the skinniest. "You know it, baby. You're hot. In fact…" he fanned himself with one hand. "I think I may need a cigarette right now….your mere presence is just too much for me to handle!"

Horatio laughed. "I bet. Now come on, I thought we had to beat the crowd."

"Oh, right…sorry," Hamlet said, rummaging through the pile of winter clothes, "Your hotness made me forget all about our plans for the day."

"Damn, I wish I hadn't reminded you."

"Ha ha, Horatio, very funny." Hamlet straightened up, holding up a light sweater. "Okay, now put this on!"

"….if I'm putting on a sweater, why'd I have to take off the shirt?"

"Just do it, Horatio, you'll see why."

Horatio complied, pulling the black sweater on over his head, tousling his hair something awful, and immediately got Hamlet's point. The sweater was nearly skintight, clinging to his body. It was nice and warm, so he wouldn't get cold on the ice, but it was tight and thin enough that it would still fit well under a jacket. "Okay, I get it."

Hamlet grinned. "Good." He pulled off his own shirt. He wasn't wearing anything under the t-shirt, and Horatio averted his eyes with some difficulty, trying to make it look as though he weren't blatantly checking Hamlet out. Hamlet, always captain of every sports team, had always had a nice build to him, not heavy but toned.

Horatio's gawking (however brief) did not go unnoticed by Hamlet, who smiled to himself at the flush creeping up the back of Horatio's neck. "Hey, I'll be back in a second, okay? I want to change my pants."

Horatio nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and Hamlet left the room. Horatio sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace, mind wandering back to the way Hamlet had looked leaving the room, the muscles in his back moving fluidly beneath the smooth tanned skin. _Get a hold of yourself, _he ordered, shaking his head. _Will not do to fantasize about best friend, will not do at all._

"I'm back!"

Horatio jumped in surprise at the loudness of Hamlet's voice, rising to his feet. Hamlet was grinning, and now fully clothed, something which gave Horatio mixed feelings. On the one hand he was grateful for it because his utterly blatant staring wouldn't become a problem, but he still felt a pang of regret at all that perfect skin being covered by layers of fabric. His mind immediately trailed off as he thought about how he'd like to get Hamlet alone and slowly peel off each layer one by one…

"Horatio?"

Horatio jumped again. Hamlet was staring at him with some amusement. "You okay, buddy?"

"Er….yeah."

"Okay….here…I brought your coat!"

Horatio looked at the gargantuan puffy….thing…that Hamlet was holding up in front of him. "…..you've gotta be kidding me."

"Nope."

"……………you call that a coat!"

"Yup."

"Hamlet….it's HUGE!"

"I know." Hamlet grinned.

Horatio sighed, but held out his arms. Hamlet helped him slip into the coat. "Well, at least I know that when I fall down I won't get hurt," he said sarcastically. "Nothing's getting through this thing."

"ExxxxxxxxxACTLY." Hamlet zipped the coat and Horatio stood there, look on his face plainly saying that he was not at all amused. "WHAT?" Hamlet demanded.

"Hamlet….I can't put my arms down." It was true; Horatio's arms stuck out, the puff of the jacket preventing him from lowering his arms all the way.

"Hmm…" Hamlet placed one hand on each of Horatio's arms and pushed them down. A moment later, he let go, and Horatio's arms sprang back up again. He tried again. Same thing. A snicker escaped.

Horatio glared. "Hamlet," he growled.

"Hey, don't look at me!" Hamlet protested. "Mom bought it for you! Now come on…you said so yourself, it's a good thing! You can't get hurt!"

"Yeah, but I can't do anything else, either," Horatio muttered.

"Pffft, what kind of talk is that?" Hamlet said. "Come on, let's go, the car is waiting."

"What about the skates?" Horatio asked, stalling for time.

"They're already in the car. Let's go." Horatio moved to go, but Hamlet stopped him. "Wait a minute, I almost forgot!" Reaching into the pocket of his parka, he pulled out a fluffy blue and green ski cap and jammed it onto Horatio's head. "There!"

"….you've gotta be kidding me," Horatio said yet again.

"Nope….mom made it for you. Specifically. To match your eyes."

Horatio sighed again. He couldn't do a thing if it was made by Gertrude. She had always been the completely adoring mother he had never known, so there was no way he would refuse a gift, especially one she spent her time to make when she actually went out of her way to color coordinate it to his eyes. He moved to walk past Hamlet to go out to the car. The snickering started up again. Growling, he kept walking. "What is it NOW?"

Snicker snicker. "You waddle."

"What?"

The snickers were turning into giggles. "You're waddling."

"I most certainly am NOT."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"You are too, Horatio, you silly waddling dork."

"Shut up." Horatio tried to walk faster, but that only made it worse. He could feel himself rocking slightly back and forth as he moved. _Oh God, _he thought, humiliation hitting him, _I really _am _waddling! Way to look hot in front of Hamlet._

Hamlet was still behind him, having a major attack of the giggles at the sight of the normally skinny Horatio waddling down the hallway, nearly two times his normal size in that huge puffy blue parka.

"_Hamlet!_"

"Sorry, sorry!" They went out the front door to the car, where Thomas, the Secret Service agent who usually accompanied them on outings like this, was waiting. The man jumped when he saw them, looking taken aback at the sight of Huge Horatio.

"..." As usual, Thomas didn't utter a word, merely stood there in silence, staring at the blue parka. Horatio, who was always under the suspicion that all the Secret Servicemen thought he was a Grade A Loser, looked flustered and annoyed and huffed a bit. Thomas seemed to regain control of himself. "...the car is ready."

"Thanks," Hamlet managed, still trying to control his laughter. "After you, sir," he said, bowing to Horatio. Thomas opened the door and Horatio went to get in….and stopped halfway in. "Horatio, what're you doing?" Hamlet asked.

"Ummmm…I'm stuck."

"WHAT?"

"I'm stuck!"

If Horatio had thought Hamlet's giggling was bad, he was in for an unpleasant surprise as Hamlet started full out hysterically laughing, doubled over and gasping for breath.

"Hamlet, it's not FUNNY! I'm stuck!"

"What….do you want…me….to do?" Hamlet asked in between laugher.

"HELP ME!"

"…….okay." Hamlet pondered the situation for only a moment before a huge grin lit up his face. He placed one foot on Horatio's backside…..

"Hamlet? What're you doing?"

……and gave Horatio a great shove. Horatio went flying into the backseat headfirst, hitting his head on the opposite door. "OW! FUCK!"

Hamlet slid in next to Horatio. "Okay, Tommy Boy, take it away."

Sighing, Thomas shut the back door and got in front. "Damn kid," he muttered under his breath.

Horatio was still taking up far too much room. Hamlet gave Horatio's backside a swat. "Move it! You're taking up the whole backseat."

"I can't!"

Hamlet sighed. "God, you're so incompetent, Horatio!" He grabbed Horatio's hands and hauled the blonde to a sitting position.

Within moments they were at the pond, and Horatio stared with apprehension out the window, dreading not only the skating but the whole trying to get out of the car part, for he was certain to get stuck again. _Damn this jacket,_ he thought furiously. _Damn this silly hat, damn this entire trip._

"You okay, Horatio?"

Horatio turned his head, mouth already open to tell Hamlet that no, he was most certainly _not _okay. But then he stopped, mouth still hanging open. Because there was Hamlet. His best friend. The one he'd known nearly all his life, the only person he could remember as always being there for him. Hamlet, with his ridiculously unkempt hair and those green eyes full of such curious concern for Horatio's emotional state. And every one of Horatio's arguments vanished, face melting into a small smile. "Fine," he said. "I'm fine."

The concern in Hamlet's eyes disappeared and that goofy grin spread across his face. "Good." And that was it. All that Horatio needed for every worry he had to get pushed to the farthest reaches of his brain. Let someone else do the worrying. This was Hamlet. And Hamlet wouldn't ever let him down.

...right?

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Yeah, so here's the second chapter, fairly soon I think. It took a bit longer than expected cause I've been busy and annoyed with due to some extremely annoying flames. Stupid people think their opinions are going to change something I've done. So one of them in particular gets a little 'shout-out' for being stupid.

**DEDICATIONS:** _Sinwen Periedhel_, _Poisoned Honey_, _Les Lapins Mauvais_, and, most importantly, _MegR_ and _JessJ_, without whom this fic would not have been written at all.

**DISCLAIMER:** Its Shakespeare's, not mine. I wish. And I don't own Brian Boitano, either, who is referenced. If you don't know who he is...he's a really cool figure skater. But you probably all know that, just from the South Park Movie. So...yeah.

**CLAIMER:** The Thomas. Hamlet's camera. The other skaters. Hamlet's mad skating skills.

And to **Lain Dolohov** (and others of the same narrow-minded persuasion): First of all, I have never seen Ethan Hawke's _Hamlet_. Little tip for you: never criticize someone for basing their fic on a certain movie unless you know for sure that they did in fact base their fic on that movie. Maybe you shouldn't jump to such ridiculous conclusions. And more importantly, maybe it is OOC. In your opinion. In the actual play of Hamlet, we see the character when he is extremely depressed and not acting at all like his normal self. Reread the play. Everyone keeps repeating that Hamlet is completely changed from how he normally behaves. Therefore, it is up to each reader to make up his or her own mind about how Hamlet normally behaves. This is my opinion on him after reading the play more times than I can count. After examining his relationships with those around him, I take him to be an easy-going and fun character. Maybe this is not your opinion. I don't really care. In either case, any further flames will have about as much of an effect as this one did. I will point out one last thing: nothing in this fic or any of my others is being changed because of this and other negative comments I've received. So feel free to continue leaving your negative reviews; they won't change the way I write.

_**FICLET!**_

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****

Hamlet bounced out of the car before it had even fully come to a stop, which earned him a glare and a warning from Thomas. "Come on, Horatio, let's go!" He opened Horatio's door, bouncing about.

Horatio scooted forwards and got stuck once again. "HamLET," he whined. "I'm stuck again."

Hamlet stifled his snickering as best he could and grabbed Horatio's hands. "Okay, ready? Let's go!" He pulled Horatio with all his might, finally succeeding in tugging the blonde out of the car. Horatio stumbled, falling into Hamlet, who caught him, narrowly avoiding falling over himself. "GEEZ, Horatio!"

"I'm SORRY! I can't stand up in this thing!"

"Or sit down, or sit up, or get in the car, or get out of the car…"

"Yes, yes, I get the point!"

Hamlet grabbed the figure skates out of Thomas's hands. "Come on, let's go!" He dragged Horatio down to the pond, which already had at least twenty skaters on it. "Here, sit down and put these on," he said. "I'll show you how."

Horatio tried to sit down…honestly tried. He ended up tipping over and falling flat on his back in the snow, landing hard. Hamlet stared down at him, shaking his head and sighing. "God, Horatio, can't do anything, can you?"

Horatio moved to sit up and shoot back a snappy retort….and found he couldn't sit up. He couldn't move at all, could only roll back and forth. The puffy jacket was preventing him from sitting up. He rolled back and forth on the ground with more force, trying to propel himself into a sitting position, but it just wasn't working.

Hamlet stared down at him. "……Horatio….._what..._are you doing."

Horatio kicked his legs. "I can't sit up."

"What are you talking about?"

"I CAN'T SIT UP!" He continued rolling about, kicking his legs to try and push himself up, but it just wasn't working. "This damn jacket!"

Hamlet began laughing again. "Oh, God, Horatio, I wish you could see yourself!"

"HamLET! Shut up and help me!"

"No way! This is much too amusing!" The blonde looked absolutely ridiculous, rolling about on the ground in a blue parka two times too big for him and a blue and green ski cap with a fluffy pompom on the top. Long legs flailed about, laces on his snow boots coming undone and flapping about. A crowd was beginning to gather to watch the show.

"Hamlet! I'm serious! Help me!" Horatio heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a camera going off. "…..are you taking pictures?"

"……..nooooooo….." Hamlet said slowly in that overly innocent aren't-I-too-adorable voice that he put on whenever he knew he was doing something bad. Unfortunately, Horatio usually fell for it because he couldn't resist those big green eyes. _Not this time, _he told himself firmly.

"Hamlet," he growled. "Help. Me. Right. Now. Or I go home."

"How will you get anywhere? You can't even sit up!"

Oh yeah. Horatio pondered it for a few silent moments. "….I'll crawl….on my stomach."

"Okay…." Hamlet paused, then his face brightened with a triumphant look as he thought of something else. "How will you get home without the car?"

"I'll fucking hitchhike."

There was a pause. "Oh, FINE!" Hamlet bent over and grabbed Horatio's hands. "I can't let you do that. You're too damn cute…someone would definitely pick you up and then you wouldn't love me anymore."

"Who said I loved you to begin with?" Horatio shot back.

Hamlet grinned. "Touché. But you're not fooling anyone…its totally obvious." Horatio blushed against his will. Hamlet hauled Horatio to a sitting position, and the blonde came face to face with a crowd of people who had all been watching his desperate struggles.

"…..I really, really hate you, Hamlet," he said under his breath.

"Aww, no you don't," Hamlet grinned. He waved his hands at the crowd. "Go away, the show's over."

Still giggling a bit, the crowd dispersed. "Okay," Hamlet said. "I'll show you how to put these on, now." He sat next to Horatio and kicked off his boots, pulling the black figure skates on and lacing them up. "See, they're just like shoes till you get to the top, and then you just pull the laces around the little metal things and pull them as tight as you want, and then tie them off!" He finished his. "Ta da! Here," and he handed over the second pair of skates, "you do yours now."

Horatio kicked off his boots and then, trying to lean forward to put the skates on, found he couldn't do that, either. "DAMN THIS PUFF PARKA!"

Hamlet snickered. "Here, let me do it." He took the skates from Horatio and knelt in front of the blonde, tugging the skates on as Horatio turned a terrific shade of crimson at Hamlet putting on the skates, being so careful not to hurt Horatio. "Those feel alright?" he asked, adjusting them. "I didn't do them too tight, did I?"

"…..no…" Horatio managed.

"Too loose?"

Horatio shook his head, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. "No." Hamlet grinned.

"Good. Let's go." Taking Horatio's hands, Hamlet tugged his best friend to his feet. Horatio nearly fell over right away, not at all used to the thin blades beneath his feet.

"HAMLET!' He made a wild grab for the brunette, legs nearly slipping out from under him. Hamlet laughed, but not in a mean way, his grip on Horatio tightening.

"Don't worry, I've got you…I've got you." His voice was very soft and soothing as he tried to calm down the frantic Horatio. He tugged Horatio's hat down a bit further with one hand, sliding one arm about the blonde's waist. Horatio's tight hold on Hamlet relaxed a bit and he took a deep breath. He suddenly became very aware of his new proximity to Hamlet. Staring into Hamlet's smiling green eyes, Horatio found himself completely unable to speak, his heart pounding wildly (though whether from his near fall or Hamlet's arm about his waist, he couldn't say).

"You okay?" Hamlet asked, and Horatio nodded wordlessly. "Okay…let's try this one again, shall we? Don't worry," he said, seeing Horatio's eyes widening, "I've got you." His arm tightened about Horatio's waist, sending a blush up onto that pale skin. "One step at a time." They slowly moved forwards, Horatio wobbling severely.

"Hamlet….I honestly don't think I can do this….I mean…I can't even handle the skates on the ground…how am I supposed to handle them on ice?"

"Don't worry about it….believe me, it's easier on the ice."

"…really?"

"I swear to God." They reached the ice and stopped. "Okay, stand really still for a minute," Hamlet said, moving away from Horatio. He glided easily onto the ice and then turned to face Horatio again. "Okay, give me your hands."

Horatio complied and Hamlet tugged him gently forward until Horatio stumbled onto the ice, gliding right into the brunette. "HAMLET!"

Hamlet laughed, arms wrapping about Horatio. "Don't worry, I've got you." He held the blonde a few moments longer then he needed to (and longer than he probably should have), loving the feeling of Horatio pressed close to him, fingers clenched in his jacket, Horatio's face against his shoulder, blonde hair ticking him as it teased against his face. He could feel Horatio's heartbeat, much faster than it should have been, and he hoped it had something to do with the fact that his arms were wrapped tightly about Horatio's waist. Finally, he slowly and reluctantly released his hold on Horatio, holding the blonde away from him. Horatio stared up into his eyes, blue eyes wide with some emotion that Hamlet didn't recognize, but he thought he could wager a pretty good guess as to what it was. Horatio's breath was coming in quick little puffs, becoming clearly visible wisps of cloud as they hit the cold air. "Horatio?"

"Yeah?" Horatio answered, a bit too fast.

Hamlet took a deep breath. "………you ready to try again?"

"……oh." Horatio looked vaguely disappointed. "Yeah…..okay."

"….okay." _Surely that wasn't what I intended to say. _He eased backwards, letting Horatio slowly slip out of his arms, hands gliding down Horatio's arms until their hands met and he caught those pale graceful hands in his own and held on. "Okay. Let's go. I'll help you till you get a hang on it, then I'll let you go." He began skating backwards, Horatio stumbling along after him. "No, it's more of a push to the side," he instructed. "You glide…." He pulled Horatio to a gentle stop. "See, you have edges to your blades, an inside edge and an outside one." He lifted one foot, demonstrating. "That's how you skate. See….okay…..sit here for a minute." He guided Horatio over to a bench on the edge of the ice. "Now watch me." Hamlet reached into his pockets and pulled out his gloves, tugging them on. "Oh yeah….and put these on." He pulled another pair out of his jacket pockets and tossed them to Horatio, who complied. Turning his back on Horatio, Hamlet pushed off onto the ice, making full use of the edges on his blades to glide gently away. "See?" He spun easily about to face Horatio. "It's easy!" Turning off, he began skating faster, making rapid loops about other skaters. Horatio watched, slack-jawed. He knew Hamlet took skating lessons but he had never expected him to be quite this good.

Hamlet skated circles around all the other skaters, grinning at Horatio the whole time. Making a lap around the ice, he sped up as he neared the spot where Horatio was sitting. "Hey, Horatio, check it out!" He crouched down, slipping easily into a shoot the duck, gliding on one foot past Horatio, who laughed. Straightening up, Hamlet grinned, reaching the spot just across from Horatio on the opposite side of the pond. "Horatio, watch this!" he called out, then turned and went into a complicated bit of footwork.

"You're such a show off!" Horatio hollered after him, unable to shake the grin from his face. Hamlet laughed.

"You know it!" Skating back over, he did a hockey stop, spraying Horatio with ice shavings. "You ready to try this again?"

"Okay….as long as you don't expect me to do any of that crazy stuff you just did," Horatio teased.

"Ah, come on, you'll be doing shoot the ducks by the end of the day," Hamlet said.

"What's that?"

"The first thing I did there, in the crouch on one foot."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Horatio acted appropriately incensed. "No way, you crazy fool!"

"Okay, fine, I'll settle for you just skating by yourself."

"That I think I can handle eventually."

"Sure you can. Now just push off on your edges like I told you." He watched for a moment, gliding backwards with Horatio's mittened hands in his. "Almost…a little more on a diagonal than you're doing right now….yeah, that's it!"

Horatio smiled. "Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay! You're getting the hang of it real fast! You want to try it alone in a few minutes?"

"Umm….okaaaaay," Horatio said slowly, not at all sure if that's what he wanted to do, but not wanting to get called a pansy again.

"Okay…..here goes, then!"

"Wait, Hamlet, no!"

But it was too late, the brunette was already skating teasingly out of Horatio's reach. Horatio stumbled a little, but managed to catch his balance, gliding slowly and choppily along, but he was gliding! He was actually doing it! He looked up at Hamlet, huge shocked smile on his face.

"Told you you had the hang of it," Hamlet said, grin on his face as he skated a bit farther out of reach. Horatio's smile widened.

"This is really fun!"

"Of course it is," Hamlet said. "Come on, Horatio, it's my favorite sport! Therefore it must be fun, because I never do anything that _isn't_ fun!"

Horatio laughed. "Too true."

Quiet smile on his face, Hamlet spun easily about, turning his back on Horatio, and began skating faster. "Come on, Horatio, catch up."

"Hey, no way, that wasn't part of our agreement!" Horatio objected, but nevertheless picked up the pace a bit. Hamlet laughed, spinning about to face Horatio again.

"Look, Horatio, backwards!" He teased, gliding easily backwards, hands behind his back.

"_Look_, Hamlet," Horatio said, imitating the teasing tone of Hamlet's voice, "Other skaters!"

Hamlet's brow furrowed. "Other skaters? What?" His eyes widened suddenly as realization hit him. "OH!" He spun about and skidded out of the way, narrowly avoiding a collision with a mother and her two kids. Hamlet tried to stop, but no dice. He slipped to the side, tripped in an ice rut and went sprawling onto his stomach, sliding a good few feet across the ice before slowly coming to a halt. "…..owies."

Horatio slowly skidded to a stop next to Hamlet and shook his head at his friend. "…..nice one, Hamlet."

"Shut up," came Hamlet's muffled voice. He pushed himself up to a sitting position. "_God_, that hurt."

"Maybe if you weren't such a show off," Horatio teased. Hamlet gave him a smug little smile.

"It's not showing off if you've got the moves to back it up."

"Oh? And you think you have the moves?"

"Pffft, I don't _think_, I _KNOW_."

"Then show me your skills, Boitano!"

"Fine, I will!" Hamlet stood up with much more grace than Horatio knew he would have under such circumstances. "Watch and learn, grasshopper, watch and learn." And he skated off, picking up speed as he made a large loop about the pond. When he reached the halfway point, Horatio noticed a change in the way Hamlet was skating. He stopped gliding, one foot went out in front. Then, before Horatio could even really ponder the change, Hamlet did a little half turn and next thing Horatio knew, the brunette was airborne, doing a little jump. Horatio's eyes were huge. He had no idea that the jump was just a simple salchow, had no way of knowing. All he knew was that it was nothing he could ever hope to do.

Hamlet grinned at him, skating past. "You like that one, eh? Here, check this one out!" Again Horatio could only pick out the change in the footwork seconds before Hamlet launched himself into the air again, this jump more impressive than the last. "Loop jump," Hamlet called over the ice. He had no idea that people were beginning to stop and watch him; he only had eyes for Horatio. Again he went off, cutting through the middle of the ice. "Here, watch this," he called, "you'll like this one!" And he went into a series of split jumps, each one a bit higher and showier than the last, then did one last jump, landed, and went right into a flying camel spin. Horatio got dizzy just watching him; he had no clue how Hamlet could do it. The spin seemed to go on forever, turning into a sit spin, to a regular one foot spin, then, without even slowing down, Hamlet brought it to an abrupt halt, throwing his arms out in a very overdramatic gesture as though to present himself to Horatio. However, what greeted him was not just Horatio, but an audience of at least thirty people.

Hamlet blinked in surprise, and then the applause started. Huge grin lighting up his face, he gave another flourish and then bowed dramatically to each side. Horatio shook his head. Finally, the applause died down; Hamlet skated over to Horatio.

"Where did you ever learn to do that?" Horatio demanded. Hamlet grinned.

"You like that, huh? I've been taking lessons since I was five…one would think I'd have some sort of skill by now."

"Skill! Hamlet! It was incredible!"

"Really?"

"GOD, yes!" Horatio shook his head. "I could never do that."

"Well, you've got to start somewhere," Hamlet said. "So keep skating."

tbc


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Yeah, so here's the second chapter. It took a bit longer than expected cause I've been busy and annoyed with due to some extremely annoying flames. Stupid people think their opinions are going to change something I've done.

**DEDICATIONS:** _Sinwen Periedhel_, _Poisoned Honey_, _Les Lapins Mauvais_, and, most importantly, _MegR_ and _JessJ_, without whom this fic would not have been written at all.

**DISCLAIMER:** Its Shakespeare's, not mine. I wish. And I don't own Brian Boitano, either, who is referenced. If you don't know who he is....he's a really cool figure skater. But you probably all know that, just from the South Park Movie. So....yeah.

**CLAIMER:** The Thomas. Hamlet's camera. The other skaters. Hamlet's mad skating skills.

_**FICLET!**_

Hamlet bounced out of the car before it had even fully come to a stop, which earned him a glare and a warning from Thomas. "Come on, Horatio, let's go!" He opened Horatio's door, bouncing about.

Horatio scooted forwards and got stuck once again. "HamLET," he whined. "I'm stuck again."

Hamlet stifled his snickering as best he could and grabbed Horatio's hands. "Okay, ready? Let's go!" He pulled Horatio with all his might, finally succeeding in tugging the blonde out of the car. Horatio stumbled, falling into Hamlet, who caught him, narrowly avoiding falling over himself. "GEEZ, Horatio!"

"I'm SORRY! I can't stand up in this thing!"

"Or sit down, or sit up, or get in the car, or get out of the car…"

"Yes, yes, I get the point!"

Hamlet grabbed the figure skates out of Thomas's hands. "Come on, let's go!" He dragged Horatio down to the pond, which already had at least twenty skaters on it. "Here, sit down and put these on," he said. "I'll show you how."

Horatio tried to sit down…honestly tried. He ended up tipping over and falling flat on his back in the snow, landing hard. Hamlet stared down at him, shaking his head and sighing. "God, Horatio, can't do anything, can you?"

Horatio moved to sit up and shoot back a snappy retort….and found he couldn't sit up. He couldn't move at all, could only roll back and forth. The puffy jacket was preventing him from sitting up. He rolled back and forth on the ground with more force, trying to propel himself into a sitting position, but it just wasn't working.

Hamlet stared down at him. "……Horatio….._what....._are you doing."

Horatio kicked his legs. "I can't sit up."

"What are you talking about?"

"I CAN'T SIT UP!" He continued rolling about, kicking his legs to try and push himself up, but it just wasn't working. "This damn jacket!"

Hamlet began laughing again. "Oh, God, Horatio, I wish you could see yourself!"

"HamLET! Shut up and help me!"

"No way! This is much too amusing!" The blonde looked absolutely ridiculous, rolling about on the ground in a blue parka two times too big for him and a blue and green ski cap with a fluffy pompom on the top. Long legs flailed about, laces on his snow boots coming undone and flapping about. A crowd was beginning to gather to watch the show.

"Hamlet! I'm serious! Help me!" Horatio heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a camera going off. "…..are you taking pictures?"

"……..nooooooo….." Hamlet said slowly in that overly innocent aren't-I-too-adorable voice that he put on whenever he knew he was doing something bad. Unfortunately, Horatio usually fell for it because he couldn't resist those big green eyes. _Not this time, _he told himself firmly.

"Hamlet," he growled. "Help. Me. Right. Now. Or I go home."

"How will you get anywhere? You can't even sit up!"

Oh yeah. Horatio pondered it for a few silent moments. "….I'll crawl….on my stomach."

"Okay…." Hamlet paused, then his face brightened with a triumphant look as he thought of something else. "How will you get home without the car?"

"I'll fucking hitchhike."

There was a pause. "Oh, FINE!" Hamlet bent over and grabbed Horatio's hands. "I can't let you do that. You're too damn cute…someone would definitely pick you up and then you wouldn't love me anymore."

"Who said I loved you to begin with?" Horatio shot back.

Hamlet grinned. "Touché. But you're not fooling anyone…its totally obvious." Horatio blushed against his will. Hamlet hauled Horatio to a sitting position, and the blonde came face to face with a crowd of people who had all been watching his desperate struggles.

"…..I really, really hate you, Hamlet," he said under his breath.

"Aww, no you don't," Hamlet grinned. He waved his hands at the crowd. "Go away, the show's over."

Still giggling a bit, the crowd dispersed. "Okay," Hamlet said. "I'll show you how to put these on, now." He sat next to Horatio and kicked off his boots, pulling the black figure skates on and lacing them up. "See, they're just like shoes till you get to the top, and then you just pull the laces around the little metal things and pull them as tight as you want, and then tie them off!" He finished his. "Ta da! Here," and he handed over the second pair of skates, "you do yours now."

Horatio kicked off his boots and then, trying to lean forward to put the skates on, found he couldn't do that, either. "DAMN THIS PUFF PARKA!"

Hamlet snickered. "Here, let me do it." He took the skates from Horatio and knelt in front of the blonde, tugging the skates on as Horatio turned a terrific shade of crimson at Hamlet putting on the skates, being so careful not to hurt Horatio. "Those feel alright?" he asked, adjusting them. "I didn't do them too tight, did I?"

"…..no…" Horatio managed.

"Too loose?"

Horatio shook his head, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. "No." Hamlet grinned.

"Good. Let's go." Taking Horatio's hands, Hamlet tugged his best friend to his feet. Horatio nearly fell over right away, not at all used to the thin blades beneath his feet.

"HAMLET!' He made a wild grab for the brunette, legs nearly slipping out from under him. Hamlet laughed, but not in a mean way, his grip on Horatio tightening.

"Don't worry, I've got you…I've got you." His voice was very soft and soothing as he tried to calm down the frantic Horatio. He tugged Horatio's hat down a bit further with one hand, sliding one arm about the blonde's waist. Horatio's tight hold on Hamlet relaxed a bit and he took a deep breath. He suddenly became very aware of his new proximity to Hamlet. Staring into Hamlet's smiling green eyes, Horatio found himself completely unable to speak, his heart pounding wildly (though whether from his near fall or Hamlet's arm about his waist, he couldn't say).

"You okay?" Hamlet asked, and Horatio nodded wordlessly. "Okay…let's try this one again, shall we? Don't worry," he said, seeing Horatio's eyes widening, "I've got you." His arm tightened about Horatio's waist, sending a blush up onto that pale skin. "One step at a time." They slowly moved forwards, Horatio wobbling severely.

"Hamlet….I honestly don't think I can do this….I mean…I can't even handle the skates on the ground…how am I supposed to handle them on ice?"

"Don't worry about it….believe me, it's easier on the ice."

"…really?"

"I swear to God." They reached the ice and stopped. "Okay, stand really still for a minute," Hamlet said, moving away from Horatio. He glided easily onto the ice and then turned to face Horatio again. "Okay, give me your hands."

Horatio complied and Hamlet tugged him gently forward until Horatio stumbled onto the ice, gliding right into the brunette. "HAMLET!"

Hamlet laughed, arms wrapping about Horatio. "Don't worry, I've got you." He held the blonde a few moments longer then he needed to (and longer than he probably should have), loving the feeling of Horatio pressed close to him, fingers clenched in his jacket, Horatio's face against his shoulder, blonde hair ticking him as it teased against his face. He could feel Horatio's heartbeat, much faster than it should have been, and he hoped it had something to do with the fact that his arms were wrapped tightly about Horatio's waist. Finally, he slowly and reluctantly released his hold on Horatio, holding the blonde away from him. Horatio stared up into his eyes, blue eyes wide with some emotion that Hamlet didn't recognize, but he thought he could wager a pretty good guess as to what it was. Horatio's breath was coming in quick little puffs, becoming clearly visible wisps of cloud as they hit the cold air. "Horatio?"

"Yeah?" Horatio answered, a bit too fast.

Hamlet took a deep breath. "………you ready to try again?"

"……oh." Horatio looked vaguely disappointed. "Yeah…..okay."

"….okay." _Surely that wasn't what I intended to say. _He eased backwards, letting Horatio slowly slip out of his arms, hands gliding down Horatio's arms until their hands met and he caught those pale graceful hands in his own and held on. "Okay. Let's go. I'll help you till you get a hang on it, then I'll let you go." He began skating backwards, Horatio stumbling along after him. "No, it's more of a push to the side," he instructed. "You glide…." He pulled Horatio to a gentle stop. "See, you have edges to your blades, an inside edge and an outside one." He lifted one foot, demonstrating. "That's how you skate. See….okay…..sit here for a minute." He guided Horatio over to a bench on the edge of the ice. "Now watch me." Hamlet reached into his pockets and pulled out his gloves, tugging them on. "Oh yeah….and put these on." He pulled another pair out of his jacket pockets and tossed them to Horatio, who complied. Turning his back on Horatio, Hamlet pushed off onto the ice, making full use of the edges on his blades to glide gently away. "See?" He spun easily about to face Horatio. "It's easy!" Turning off, he began skating faster, making rapid loops about other skaters. Horatio watched, slack-jawed. He knew Hamlet took skating lessons but he had never expected him to be quite this good.

Hamlet skated circles around all the other skaters, grinning at Horatio the whole time. Making a lap around the ice, he sped up as he neared the spot where Horatio was sitting. "Hey, Horatio, check it out!" He crouched down, slipping easily into a shoot the duck, gliding on one foot past Horatio, who laughed. Straightening up, Hamlet grinned, reaching the spot just across from Horatio on the opposite side of the pond. "Horatio, watch this!" he called out, then turned and went into a complicated bit of footwork.

"You're such a show off!" Horatio hollered after him, unable to shake the grin from his face. Hamlet laughed.

"You know it!" Skating back over, he did a hockey stop, spraying Horatio with ice shavings. "You ready to try this again?"

"Okay….as long as you don't expect me to do any of that crazy stuff you just did," Horatio teased.

"Ah, come on, you'll be doing shoot the ducks by the end of the day," Hamlet said.

"What's that?"

"The first thing I did there, in the crouch on one foot."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Horatio acted appropriately incensed. "No way, you crazy fool!"

"Okay, fine, I'll settle for you just skating by yourself."

"That I think I can handle eventually."

"Sure you can. Now just push off on your edges like I told you." He watched for a moment, gliding backwards with Horatio's mittened hands in his. "Almost…a little more on a diagonal than you're doing right now….yeah, that's it!"

Horatio smiled. "Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay! You're getting the hang of it real fast! You want to try it alone in a few minutes?"

"Umm….okaaaaay," Horatio said slowly, not at all sure if that's what he wanted to do, but not wanting to get called a pansy again.

"Okay…..here goes, then!"

"Wait, Hamlet, no!"

But it was too late, the brunette was already skating teasingly out of Horatio's reach. Horatio stumbled a little, but managed to catch his balance, gliding slowly and choppily along, but he was gliding! He was actually doing it! He looked up at Hamlet, huge shocked smile on his face.

"Told you you had the hang of it," Hamlet said, grin on his face as he skated a bit farther out of reach. Horatio's smile widened.

"This is really fun!"

"Of course it is," Hamlet said. "Come on, Horatio, it's my favorite sport! Therefore it must be fun, because I never do anything that _isn't_ fun!"

Horatio laughed. "Too true."

Quiet smile on his face, Hamlet spun easily about, turning his back on Horatio, and began skating faster. "Come on, Horatio, catch up."

"Hey, no way, that wasn't part of our agreement!" Horatio objected, but nevertheless picked up the pace a bit. Hamlet laughed, spinning about to face Horatio again.

"Look, Horatio, backwards!" He teased, gliding easily backwards, hands behind his back.

"_Look_, Hamlet," Horatio said, imitating the teasing tone of Hamlet's voice, "Other skaters!"

Hamlet's brow furrowed. "Other skaters? What?" His eyes widened suddenly as realization hit him. "OH!" He spun about and skidded out of the way, narrowly avoiding a collision with a mother and her two kids. Hamlet tried to stop, but no dice. He slipped to the side, tripped in an ice rut and went sprawling onto his stomach, sliding a good few feet across the ice before slowly coming to a halt. "…..owies."

Horatio slowly skidded to a stop next to Hamlet and shook his head at his friend. "…..nice one, Hamlet."

"Shut up," came Hamlet's muffled voice. He pushed himself up to a sitting position. "_God_, that hurt."

"Maybe if you weren't such a show off," Horatio teased. Hamlet gave him a smug little smile.

"It's not showing off if you've got the moves to back it up."

"Oh? And you think you have the moves?"

"Pffft, I don't _think_, I _KNOW_."

"Then show me your skills, Boitano!"

"Fine, I will!" Hamlet stood up with much more grace than Horatio knew he would have under such circumstances. "Watch and learn, grasshopper, watch and learn." And he skated off, picking up speed as he made a large loop about the pond. When he reached the halfway point, Horatio noticed a change in the way Hamlet was skating. He stopped gliding, one foot went out in front. Then, before Horatio could even really ponder the change, Hamlet did a little half turn and next thing Horatio knew, the brunette was airborne, doing a little jump. Horatio's eyes were huge. He had no idea that the jump was just a simple salchow, had no way of knowing. All he knew was that it was nothing he could ever hope to do.

Hamlet grinned at him, skating past. "You like that one, eh? Here, check this one out!" Again Horatio could only pick out the change in the footwork seconds before Hamlet launched himself into the air again, this jump more impressive than the last. "Loop jump," Hamlet called over the ice. He had no idea that people were beginning to stop and watch him; he only had eyes for Horatio. Again he went off, cutting through the middle of the ice. "Here, watch this," he called, "you'll like this one!" And he went into a series of split jumps, each one a bit higher and showier than the last, then did one last jump, landed, and went right into a flying camel spin. Horatio got dizzy just watching him; he had no clue how Hamlet could do it. The spin seemed to go on forever, turning into a sit spin, to a regular one foot spin, then, without even slowing down, Hamlet brought it to an abrupt halt, throwing his arms out in a very overdramatic gesture as though to present himself to Horatio. However, what greeted him was not just Horatio, but an audience of at least thirty people.

Hamlet blinked in surprise, and then the applause started. Huge grin lighting up his face, he gave another flourish and then bowed dramatically to each side. Horatio shook his head. Finally, the applause died down; Hamlet skated over to Horatio.

"Where did you ever learn to do that?" Horatio demanded. Hamlet grinned.

"You like that, huh? I've been taking lessons since I was five…one would think I'd have some sort of skill by now."

"Skill?! Hamlet! It was incredible!"

"Really?"

"GOD, yes!" Horatio shook his head. "I could never do that."

"Well, you've got to start somewhere," Hamlet said. "So keep skating."

~tbc~


End file.
